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Hingis on a roll Top seed sinks Serena in straight sets; quits doubles
Updated: Thursday January 11, 2001 10:45 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Top-ranked Martina Hingis secured a straight sets quarterfinal win Thursday over No. 5 seed Serena Williams and promptly pulled out of a doubles semifinal at the Adidas International. Hingis said a blister on her right foot had prevented her from teaming with Monica Seles for a doubles semi against Lisa Raymond and Rachel Stubbs, but she expected to be fit Friday to play Conchita Martinez. Martinez, the No. 4 seed, advanced to the singles semis with a crushing 6-4, 6-0 win over Corina Morariu of the United States. Defending titlist Amelie Mauresmo overcame back pains to oust Seles 6-4, 7-6 (5) and move into a semifinal - and replay of last year's final - against second-seeded Lindsay Davenport. Davenport swept fellow Raymond 7-5, 6-4 in an all-American quarterfinal. Hingis, who won three successive Australian Opens before losing last year's decider to Davenport, said the Adidas International had not been successful warm-up for her since she won it in 1997. But her 6-4, 7-5 win against the big-serving Williams had given her a confidence boost, she said. The 20-year-old Swiss broke Williams in the opening game and maintained the advantage for the balance of the opener. She rallied from 4-1 down to clinch the second set and the match to edge ahead of the world No. 6 on career head-to-heads. After completing her second win in three days against Serena - she and Seles combined to end Venus and Serena Williams" 22-match winning stretch in doubles - Hingis said she wasn't afraid of the powerful American sisters. "The more you play them, the less problems you will have," Hingis said. "... other girls are already intimidated, but I'm the No. 1 player so I just have to defend my position. I shouldn't be scared." Williams said she was a "little bit rusty," but said she'd planned to use the Sydney tournament as a warm-up and vowed to improve at next week's season-opening Grand Slam. "I'm getting my rhythm back. I felt it a little in this game," she said. "Next week I should do a lot better because I have it, I'm just working on getting it out there." Mauresmo was having treatment late Thursday on a back injury. She said she hoped it was nothing more than a muscle strain. Trailing 3-2 in the second, the Frenchwoman called for a medical time-out so that the trainer could treat her back injury, a problem that plagued her last season and sidelined her for four months. Then, when leading 5-3 in the tiebreaker, Mauresmo looked to have earned three match points when Seles hit a forehand over the baseline. But Australian umpire Leanne White called for the point to be played again, Mauresmo lost the replay and the next point for Seles to draw level. After recovering to clinch the tiebreaker, Mauresmo said she was happy with her overall game. "I lost against her twice before, so I really wanted to make it this time," she said. "It wasn't an easy match but I handled it very well and, yeah, I'm happy about this one. "There are a lot of things going on in your mind when you don't even know if you can keep serving," she added. "The main thing is that I stayed on court. It's also good mentally that I went through this one." In men's quarterfinals, top-seeded Magnus Norman overcame George Bastl of Switzerland 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up an all-Swedish semifinal against Jonas Bjorkman, who erased German Rainer Schuttler 6-3, 6-4 Defending titlist Lleyton Hewitt fought back from 1-3 down in the first set to overcome Fabrice Santoro of France 6-4, 6-1. Hewitt, the No. 2 seed, faces a semifinal against No. 6 Sebastien Grosjean of France, who swept unseeded Swiss Roger Federer 7-5, 6-4.
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